Small Comfort
by Raykushi
Summary: While imprisoned, the thief king has a pale visitor. Drabblefic. Warnings: pre-canon, gore, implied torture. Based on a doujinshi. Done for the ygodrabble LJ community, word prompt: Risk. Word count: 659


Title: Small Comfort

Author: Raykushi

Disclaimer: Rights to Yu-Gi-Oh belong to Kazuki Takahashi and others. This is a fan piece only and no monetary gain comes from its publication.

Prompt word: Risk

Summary: While imprisoned, the thief king has a pale visitor.

Warnings: Pre-canon, gore, implied torture. The following drabble is inspired by the R-rated Yu-Gi-Oh doujinshi titled "Gross Darkness," by Kaneda Goen/Goendama and scanlated by "Something-Or-Other Scanlations."

Community: ygodrabble . livejournal . com (Please go visit and feel free to join if you like writing Yu-Gi-Oh drabbles! Erase extra spaces when using link.)

Word count: 659

**Small Comfort**

Even on the darkest nights of no moon he could see the pale white shape gliding across the floor of his cell. The faint starlight coming from the barred window near the ceiling seemed to be enough to light its hide. Or perhaps it was so white it cast its own luminescence.

The first night it appeared, he thought perhaps his fever had brought strange visions to his eyes. He rolled over on the wooden plank that served as the cell's cot to look closer, and the deep wound in his side throbbed like a lightning strike, a constant reminder that he was too weak to escape this prison cell. For now.

The pale form slid near with the sound of scales on the sandy floor, like a soft sigh. A slim, wedge-shaped head rose up on the end of a lithe body, level with his own head. Two dark pits regarded him. "Have you come to keep me company? How funny. It's your fault I'm in here," he mused aloud at the creature, but without ire.

The white snake—or perhaps one just like it—had caused the king of thieves to stumble as he fled the royal tomb. Not because he didn't see it. He had easily sighted the simple creature as he ran from the palace guards and without a thought he had dodged around it, changed direction so the guards wouldn't hit it with their hurled weapons or crush it as they chased him. It was such a small thing, just a second's choice, but as the lance pierced his side and he fell, he knew the risk had cost him.

Still the thief could not begrudge the animal. They were alike. Creatures of the night. Hated by all. Trying to survive.

During the daylight hours, when his captors came to torture him, playing with his body and taunting him with the knowledge of his upcoming execution, the thief king suffered in silence. But each night his silent companion would return. The snake slipped up to the plank and curled around his body, a warm pulse of life in the cold, dead air of the prison. It was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless as the thief king waited for his death.

~.~.~

In the end, it was the snake who gave the thief king new chance at life. But he couldn't rejoice. All he could do was fall to his knees on the floor of the cell, staring in horror. All he could see was the lifeless shreds of blood and flesh and scale littering the stone. All he could hear was the mocking laughter of the guard who had ripped the helpless creature in half before his eyes.

And then all he could feel was rage.

Strength he hadn't felt since before his capture flooded into his body. His wound was forgotten. His _Ka_ flared to life around him, a shadow that filled the cold air of the cell, surging forward. The guard didn't even have time to scream as the dark form sliced him cleanly in half. Two hulks of meat landed on the floor amidst the small smears of blood already there. Dark red entrails and blood-stained linens fell and covered the little corpse like a small mercy.

Panting, the captive slumped to the side, most of his power spent. Raised his head and slowly shook pale hair out of his eyes. His sight fell on the cell door, just slightly ajar. The rage left him; he felt only tired now, and sad.

Then the thief king could feel something pulse in his chest, a _Ka_ he had never felt before. A small comfort. The air around him pulsed with a soft white glow.

"You're still here?" he whispered, somehow getting to his feet. He shoved at the cell door, beginning to limp to his freedom. "Stay with me," he said to the still, cold air.

"I'll name you Diabound."


End file.
